Back when we were kids
by Volunteer95
Summary: Marauders Era AU; Severus thought of Lily as his sister, didn't fit into Slytherin, and had to be rescued by Sirius and James. What do think will happen next? I smell a resorting in order
1. Chapter 1

James turned the corner and stopped; just ahead of him there were Slytherins ganged up around someone. His first thought went to Sirius, but almost as soon as the thought entered his head Sirius slammed into his back.

"Sorry mate, I didn't realized you'd stopped." Sirius apologized and almost jumped out of his skin when James turned and pulled him beside him pointing a finger to his lips. Sirius looked where James was looking and his blood froze.

He'd heard stories his whole life about how Slytherin House treated those who didn't fit in. As part of his training to take the position of Head of House for the House of Black, he'd been conditioned on how to make alliances and survive in Slytherin. The only thing was he hadn't wanted to go to Slytherin and now he was a Gryffindor. He had no doubt in his mind that his parents would hear about it, if they hadn't already, from Bellatrix's parents. Luckily, thanks to some tricky maneuvering of Charlus and Dorea Potter, Sirius had been able to have one friend as a child that wasn't a Slytherin...James. He and James were cousins, second cousins, because of James's mother Dorea Potter nee Black. Dorea's mother had been sisters with his Dad's mother and even though Dorea had been a Slytherin she wasn't dark like most of the family. In fact his great-grandparents weren't dark either, they were neutral, but his grandmother had married a dark wizard and it had gone downhill. Dorea and his Dad though had been close, even though their parents no longer got along, and so Dorea had begged for Sirius to get to spend time with James. His Dad had finally caved in and Sirius spent weeks at a time with the Potters. It had caused a rift between his younger brother Regulus and him, but his Mum had refused to allow both of her sons to be around such a light family. 

Suddenly James squeezed his wrist causing Sirius to break out of it. The Slytherins had parted only slightly, but it was enough to see who was on the floor. It was the boy they'd met on the train...Severus.

"What do we do?" James whispered urgently looking at Sirius anxiously.

"Follow me and keep your wand out." Sirius hissed back and James nodded letting his wrist go. Sirius took a deep breath and headed out into the light.

"What are you doing?" Sirius demanded wand already pointed at the group.

"Well, well, hello, Sirius." Bellatrix sneered causing the group to part.

"Bellatrix. Leave him alone; what would your mother think? Picking on a first year the first night and getting suspended. Not to mention her reaction if you attacked me before you could convince me to be resorted into Slytherin?" Sirius taunted and knew he'd struck a nerve when Bellatrix froze.

"Come on Bella...just stun him and let's get out of here." Lucius Malfoy insisted and Bellatrix nodded throwing out a spell that caused Sirius to turn and shove James down. As soon as the spell shot over their heads Sirius stood again, but everyone besides Severus was gone.

Sirius hurried to Severus's side with James on his heels, "Severus, can you hear me?" Sirius questioned noticing the many wounds that littered his body.

"Please...help me..." Severus begged and Sirius felt a protectiveness wash over him. He was usually only protective of James, he considered James his brother after all, but Severus reminded him of Regulus when Reggie was younger.

"Don't worry they're gone; we're going to get you help." James assured and Severus's eyes flicked to James.

"They didn't get Lily did they?" Severus moaned and James shook his head quickly.

"No, Lily was in the common room when we left. Easy just stay still and I'll get the headmaster." James soothed. As soon as he heard James's words Severus relaxed immediately.

"Tweak." James called and a young house elf popped into the hallway.

"Young master called?" Tweak squeaked.

"You can just call me James, but yes I called, could you get the Headmaster and tell him it's urgent?" James requested and Tweak nodded before popping away.

"How did you know that was one of the Headmaster's elves?" Severus murmured.

"At the beginning of the feast he said, "Tweak, Oddment, Clover, and Hodgepodge; when my Dad was here Clover and Hodgepodge were young house elves like Tweak, and there were two older ones...they were in charge of the House tables and the food." James explained kneeling down by Severus again. 

"Very good my b...Severus? What happened?" Albus inquired bending down by the young Slytherin.

"Bellatrix, Malfoy, and some of their cronies did this, Headmaster." Sirius offered when it was obvious Severus was timid of the older man.

"Severus, can you tell me why?" Albus murmured gently carding his hand through the little boy's hair in hopes of comforting him.

"They...didn't like that I was friends with Lily..." Severus admitted and Albus grimaced understanding all too well.

"You took up for her didn't you?" Albus probed and Severus immediately got defensive.

"I had to, she's the closest thing to a sister that I have." Severus protested and Albus felt his heart twinge.

"I know my boy...I didn't mean anything by it; I'm glad you took up for your friend." Albus soothed and Severus relaxed against his knee.

"Severus, I'm going to very gently levitate you onto a stretcher and take you to the hospital wing; Sirius, James, would you boys please get Professor McGonagall and Lily Evans for me?" Albus questioned and both boys nodded taking off.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily was curled up in her bed, writing a letter to her parents and worrying about Severus. There had always been a chance that Severus would end up in Slytherin, it was what he was most afraid of after all, but the other snakes already seemed to hate him. They had glared at him the moment the hat said Slytherin and there had been hardly any clapping. She had met Severus when she was five years old at her school. He had been in her Kindergarten class and was rather quiet. Being the youngest of the family Lily was used to playing by herself, and had been intrigued that Severus seemed ok with playing by himself too. From there a fast friendship had developed. At five they could both read fairly well, though Sev was always better, and they made a club together. The only way to be in the club was to be able to read. Of course the other children hadn't even paid them any mind and so it had just been the two of them. After being in Kindergarten for a month she had shown her first signs of accidental magic in front of Sev and his Mum, Eileen. It had scared her, but Aunt Eileen had assured her it was perfectly natural. At the time she had seen it as anything but normal; after all Petunia couldn't do things like that nor any of the others, so it had to mean there was something wrong with her. Aunt Eileen though had shown her how she could perform magic and just like that Lily started taking magic lessons with Sev. It hadn't taken much convincing on her parents' part and she was even allowed to go to Diagon Alley.

Then when they were seven something happened and the trips stopped for almost a year. Sev's Dad, Tobias, was arrested for exploding a factory that he worked at when Sev was three and he had somehow escaped from prison. Luckily for them Tobias had no idea what Sev looked like, but unfortunately he did know what Eileen looked like. Aunt Eileen had "dyed" her hair brunette with a potion and cast a spell on her eyes to make them the color of Lily's. A cover story was created and for that year she was known as Marigold Eileen Turner. Turner was who Rose, Lily's Mum, had been before she gotten married and it was made to look as if Rose hadn't been an only child. After Tobias had been caught Eileen had went back to the Prince family name with one exception. Instead of being known as Eileen Prince, her parents hadn't given her a middle name, she became Eileen Marigold Turner-Prince. With adoption papers she legally became Rose's sister in both the muggle and magical world. From there Sev had undergone a name change and was now Severus Turner-Prince. Even though she came from a big family, and in the end they all ended up having some type of magic, Severus was like her twin in her eye. In fact...

"Lily!" James screamed and finally succeeded in pushing the door open.

Lily snapped out of it and looked in complete shock at James. "James? What's the matter?" Lily questioned and then she felt her heart stop.

Professor McGonagall and Sirius were coming up behind him and McGonagall looked like she was holding back tears. "Lily...you need to come to the hospital wing, lass. Severus was attacked and he needs you." Minerva informed gently. Lily was out of her bed and running down the stairs before she realized she didn't know where the hospital wing was.

She turned and almost ran smack dab into James. "I'll show you were the hospital wing is; McGonagall is coming, but she has to take Sirius's statement first." James explained and Lily nodded running behind him all the way to the hospital wing. 

Minerva took a deep breath and looked back at Sirius, "Mr. Black...if I tell your aunt and uncle that you were the one to turn Bellatrix in...what will happen to you?" Minerva questioned and felt her heart constrict as a small flicker of fear passed over Sirius's face.

"For now nothing...until I have to go back home for either Christmas or the summer. Then...I'm not sure, but Bella can't be allowed to hurt people like that. Aunt Dorea can protect me for most of the summer anyways and by the time I do go home they may have gotten over it." Sirius admitted trying to sound as hopeful as possible.

"Sirius, by hurting Severus the way Ms. Lestrange and Mr. Malfoy did...they'll both be suspended, at the least for a month and at the most until after Christmas break. I can try and keep your name out of it, but Bellatrix knows that you were there and confronted her...and she'll still tell your parents." Minerva elaborated and Sirius was quiet for a moment lost in his thoughts.

He'd been a little over a year old when Regulus had been born; from the moment Reggie was born he had acted as his protector, refusing to let anyone even discipline him. His first display of accidental magic had been because Reggie had started to fall down the stairs and he'd suspended him in the air. He'd been three at the time. As they'd gotten older though and he'd started spending time at the Potters, which was a relief because he didn't like being punished for not seeing things exactly like a Slytherin, he and Reggie had started to drift. Reggie was the perfect little Slytherin and was well trained to see muggles as less than him. In truth that meant some part of Reggie really believed that he was better or he would have resisted like Sirius did. He resisted long before becoming an unofficial member of the Potter family and had taken severe beatings for it. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Severus; he'd asked Sirius to help him and he wanted to keep him safe.

"It's of professor. I'll talk to Aunt Dorea and Uncle Charlus about what I can do to not have to spend as much time at home. Severus asked me to help him, and odd as it sounds I see him as a little brother. I know I don't really know him, but I just feel protective of him like I do James." Sirius admitted and was suddenly engulfed in a hug. 


	3. Chapter 3

James stood outside the hospital wing with Professor Dumbledore giving his recounting of the events while Lily was talking to Severus. He didn't have any real siblings, but he'd thought of Sirius as his brother since he was around five. That had been when Sirius had started coming over and spending time at Potter Manor and they'd automatically bonded. His Mum had made it possible for Sirius to be there for every holiday, almost every weekend, and sometimes for half of every month including the entire summer besides a week here and there. Even though Sirius hadn't been adopted into the Potter family he was a Potter in every way it counted and James knew he'd be devastated to see Sirius like that. 

"It's ok Sev, it's ok. We'll keep them from hurting you again. Shh..." Lily soothed hugging Severus close as he clung to her and tears poured down his face.

"I don't want to go back Lils..." Severus sobbed and then froze when he realized there was light from the hallway streaming in.

"You won't have to Severus; you can be resorted if that's what you want to do. I also want you to know that Ms. Lestrange and Mr. Malfoy are both going to be suspended and go before a correction board of sorts to decide how long. At the least they'll both be gone a month and at the most until after Christmas break. I don't want you to worry...I'll make sure this doesn't happen to you again and I'm sorry it did this time." Albus promised and Severus started to calm down, but continued to cling to Lily.

"When can Sev be resorted, Headmaster?" Lily inquired continuing to rub Sev's back as he started to relax.

"Now if he feels ready for it." Albus relayed and Severus hesitantly nodded.

"Very well, I asked Professor McGonagall to go ahead and bring the Sorting Hat with her after she took Mr. Black's statement, so she should be here in a moment." Albus smiled and motioned James into the room.

James shuffled in a hesitantly stepped beside the bed. He didn't really know Severus and he didn't want to intrude on a private matter.

"Thank-you...you and Sirius could have left me there, but you got me help instead, so thank-you. Friends?" Severus asked holding out his hand.

Without hesitation James shook Severus's hand, "Friends." James confirmed. 

Minerva sat later that night sipping a glass of brandy and smiling softly. Seeing children so young step up and care for one another really did her old heart good. It had devastated her to see what had been done to young Severus, but it had warmed her heart to notice the fierce protectiveness in his year mates. Lily she expected, but for Sirius it was most monumental as it put him directly against his family. Severus was a half-blood with a muggleborn friend which in Slytherin eyes meant that he was no better than a muggleborn himself. She had never understood Slytherin House's prejudice when it came to muggleborns and even less when it came to half-bloods. Even as a student she had an aversion to Slytherin's an made sure to stay as far away as possible. Of course there were the occasional Slytherins that had hearts of gold like James's mother, but all in all they had a bad reputation. A reputation that would not be helped by tonight's events. Once she had placed the sorting hat on Severus's head a part of her just knew he was going to become a lion, and become a lion he had. The moment the hat yelled Gryffindor Severus had been tackled by his friends and sister.

"I knew you'd get put with us, Sev." Lily beamed.

"Good job, mate." James nodded.

"Yea, now all you have to do is put up with James's snoring." Sirius quipped and James pulled Sirius into a headlock.

Once Poppy had released Sev, with the express instructions to not be rough with him, Minerva had lead the four back to Gryffindor tower. There had been too many boys to all be in one dorm room so the castle had rearranged it putting Severus, James, Sirius, and Remus Lupin together. The Pettigrew boy had been clumped with the remaining years causing him to pitch a fit and demand a resort himself. Minerva had denied him at first, but when Peter threatened to write home and have his parents demand it for him...she had asked Albus who had agreed. Resorting Pettigrew threw him into the snake den. It really wasn't what Sev needed, another enemy in Slytherin, but it was better than an enemy in Gryffindor. 


	4. Chapter 4

By the next morning when Severus, James, Sirius, and Remus came downstairs the entire Gryffindor house had been updated on what had happened. Everyone that saw Severus greeted him enthusiastically on making the right choice and Severus was able to relax.

"Morning, Sev. Did you sleep good last night?" Lily chirped wrapping him in a quick hug. Normally Severus would have been embarrassed, but after last night he needed the reassurance and besides he could do worse than have a sister who loved him.

"I did, did you?" Severus inquired raising his eyebrow and causing Lily to grin. Until Sev became more open around the Gryffindors he would be a tad shy.

"I did, it's great here Sev and now that you're here it's perfect. I always need my twin after all." Lily beamed and Severus smiled back. Twin...he always liked when she called him that, and that's definitely what they had become...twins.

"Exactly twin of mine." Severus nodded back and Lily hugged him again before turning and bolting back upstairs.

"Is she ok?" James probed watching her curiously.

"Yea she just forgot something." Severus nodded grinning at Lily; no matter if it was home or here she always behaved in true Lily fashion. 

As he sat at breakfast Severus could feel the glares coming from Slytherin House and kept his head ducked.

"Sev, don't let them get to you. They're just jealous because now Gryffindor will get more house points with you in it." Lily stated loudly smirking at the Slytherin table as several of the first years heard her.

"Lils, maybe it's not such a good idea to antagonize the first years." Severus pointed out.

"He has a point; Slytherin can be brutal and with you being a muggleborn, well it's best if you don't give them too many reasons to dislike you." Sirius agreed noticing James's nod.

"They're both right. Of course don't let them walk all over you either, but definitely don't give them reasons to target you. We'll get them back for what they did to Sev, so don't worry about that." James whispered grinning excitedly. He loved to prank people and revenge pranking sounded even more fun.

"What do you have planned?" Lily inquired munching on a piece of bacon. Severus groaned softly and James looked at him in concern.

"You ok, mate?" James questioned and Lily giggled.

"He's fine; it's just your influencing my prankster side and he knows it." Lily chuckled. Growing up with five siblings had made her become more aware. Oleander, her oldest brother, loved to prank the twins in the family Amaryllis (her only other brother) and Violet (her oldest sister). As the youngest he had often let her assist him because he knew she would be less likely to get in trouble with their Mom.

"You like to prank?" James probed excited; nudging Sirius in the ribs.

"I do. My oldest brother, Amaryllis, taught me how when he would prank our brother and sister." Lily nodded eyes sparkling.

"Brilliant; Sirius and I have spent the better part of our lives studying prank potions and how best to administer them without getting caught." James beamed and the three grinned at each other before looking at Severus and their other dorm mate, Remus Lupin.

"We could use you two to help plan. Are you in?" James and Sirius questioned.

"Well seeing as you'll probably be up all night planning and I won't be able to sleep, I'll supervise and make sure you don't get caught or in trouble." Remus agreed and made a mental note to get a notebook.

"Sev? Come on, please? You can brew potions better than anyone I've met and we could use someone who can help with that." Lily begged throwing puppy dog eyes at him.

"Ok, ok, just stop looking at me like that. Since you guys are willing to do this for me and have had my back...I'm in." Severus agreed feeling a lot better.

Being in Gryffindor was definitely going to make Hogwarts memorable.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the delay guys; the real world got hectic.

* * *

As the group of five roamed the library looking for books to help them Peter Pettigrew was lurking in a corner glaring at them. He knew why McGonagall had moved him and it wasn't because the room was too crowded. She seemed to have a soft spot for the new lion cub, Severus Turner-Prince. He'd been awake when she'd brought him in followed by James and Sirius who were joking with the other boy. McGonagall had looked around and then rested her eyes on him before sighing and walking towards him. She'd said it was because she didn't want to overwhelm Severus with so many new people and so she'd put him in a room with the other Gryffindor boys. Or rather she'd tried to; he'd refused and thrown a fit until he was given a resorting. After seeing that James and Sirius (he'd thought maybe he could get close to the second boy as he was still a Black) refuse to look his way, that had been the last straw. Dumbledore had immediately agreed and he'd went to Slytherin with his other friends from home, Crabbe and Goyle. He knew that his Dad would be disappointed that he hadn't brought the Black heir back to Slytherin, but he'd have to inform him it was impossible. Maybe next year he'd be able to make friends with the younger Black, Regulus, and appease his Dad. One thing was for sure he didn't want his Dad angry with him, the man had a wicked temper when riled. Though Peter hardly ever saw it since he was an only child an heir to the Pettigrew line, but still better safe than sorry. Crabbe came around the corner and he motioned him to follow him. He'd seen the books the five were looking for and he needed to talk to Bellatrix and Lucius immediately.

* * *

"Well, aren't you lot the studious sort?" Madame Pince questioned smiling kindly at them. In total the five had checked out around thirty books covering various potions.

"Just thought we'd read up a bit on different potions." Remus offered since technically that wasn't a lie.

"Well, just be careful and don't hurt yourselves trying to brew these unsupervised. You know Horace Slughorn might be of some assistance if you ever wanted to try any of these. He's very fond of children with an eagerness to learn." Madam Pince elaborated and the group nodded taking the books and waving goodbye before taking off. Now all they had to do was find somewhere safe to go so that no one would catch them. The older Gryffindors would be sure to tell McGonagall if they overheard their conversations about pranking Slytherins.

* * *

Albus looked out over the students and noticed four young Gryffindors trailing in late and trying to look innocent. Chuckling softly he shook his head; children never ceased to amaze him. As long as they didn't cause any lasting damage he wouldn't reprimand them though, after all they could invent something rather grand. The girl, Lily, was already seated and beaming at the others excitedly. He smiled softly and thought back to another little girl he'd seen so excited...his younger Ariana. Shaking his head he turned to Minerva and tuned into what she was telling him. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past...not now anyways.

* * *

"Where have you four been? I've been looking all over for you guys!" Lily whispered urgently.

"We were looking Lils, where did you go? One second you were beside me and the next you were gone." Severus reminded her spooning some potatoes onto his plate.

"Well, we'd been looking for over an hour with no luck so I thought I'd go to the common room. I found a girl that's a year older than me and struck up a conversation. After a while I asked her where I should go if I wanted some alone time without anyone bothering me..." Lily began only to be cut off by Sirius.

"What if she tells; why would you ask an older..." Sirius griped and immediately shut up when he noticed Lily's glare and Severus's reprimanding gaze.

"As I was saying, she told me that on the third floor corridor there's a bathroom that no one ever goes to. She said she used to, but the girl there ran her out when she accidentally insulted the girl's house. So I grabbed some of the books and took off. The girl agreed to let us spend time there as long as we don't insult Ravenclaw or make fun of her." Lily finished humphing at Sirius. Sirius blushed and winced, ok so maybe he had reacted to fast.

"Sorry...I shouldn't have gotten so excited before I let you finish. I forget girls have these kinds of talks a lot, so it wouldn't be as odd as one of us going up to an older guy and asking for advice." Sirius apologized and Lily smiled softly.

"I'll let it go since it's only happened once." Lily nodded and looking up she noticed Severus's face return to normal. Sometimes she forgot how protective he could be of her and she didn't want him to lose his friends. Actually she didn't want to lose them either to be honest.

"Wait a minute, you said she agreed? How can another student stop people from coming in a bathroom?" Remus inquired sipping pumpkin juice.

"Oh, see that's the thing, Myrtle is a ghost. She's was close to our age though when she died; anyways every calls her "Moaning Myrtle", but she said she doesn't like that name. I told her I'd just call her Myrtle and that helped get her to let us use the bathroom. I mean she's really nice when she's not upset and she can be helpful. I really just think she's lonely." Lily explained and the boys just stared at her, eyes wide.

"What?" LIly demanded and Severus was the first one to snap out of it.

"Only you Lils, only you." Severus grinned squeezing her hand. Lily rolled her eyes, but gently squeezed his hand back. Sometimes Sev would do things like that and she knew deep down he was always nervous about losing his family and friends.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry guys, not an update but I need everyone that would to go do the poll on my writer page. I'll be back to updating soon


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